Draymond Green’s defense — even diminished — still outweighs offensive struggles for Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO – A sprained left ankle. Sore ribs. A gimpy left wrist.
Draymond Green was a whole team’s injury report unto himself after spending the previous 48 minutes jostling with 7-foot bruiser Ivica Zubac in Monday’s loss to the Clippers.
There was no dramatic incident, no hard foul that caused those afflictions. Those occurred through the course of play: Green diving into the bench for a loose ball, and then defending Kawhi Leonard on a drive and falling down.
The kind of manically energetic plays that have defined Green’s Hall of Fame career on the defensive side of the ball took its toll.
“I’m beat the hell up,” Green said. “I try to take it upon myself to be that level of physicality to the group, bring that energy that it takes to win high-level basketball games.”
It is no surprise that Green found himself on the injury report for Wednesday’s matchup with the Bucks, who feature the 6-11 battering ram Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Green still approaches stopping the other team with the kind of reckless abandon of a man 10 years younger, and is still a smart defender who commands the respect of his peers and coach.
The advanced statistics still paint him as one of the league’s best on that side, already accruing 1.2 defensive win shares in just 30 games.
But having to battle players six inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than the 6-6, 230-pounder is much more of a chore at age 35 than in the past, and something the Warriors have hoped to avoid this season.
“It’s amazing how many plays he blows up, and everything he sees on the court, his mind and his ability to process before the rest of the nine players, he still has all of that,” coach Steve Kerr said Monday, before adding, “He’s not what he was five years ago, athletically, and he’s not quite as quick.”
Green is still capable of stymying the best post players in the world: see his performances against Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic earllier this year. But having him do it full-time is no longer the ideal plan for Golden State.
Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy and Green have all expressed a desire for Green to play less center, and Quinten Post has started the majority of the team’s games.
But playing Green at power forward, even with the volume-shooting Post next to him, has exposed Green’s growing shortcomings as a scorer next to Jimmy Butler.
Neither player is a prolific shot-maker from long range, but Green’s dwindling speed advantage is further lessened when he is guarded by power forwards rather than centers on dribble handoffs.
Green averages 2.9 turnovers per game, just behind Curry’s 3.0 but in five fewer minutes per night than his co-star. Part of the issue is Green’s reluctance to shoot, which allows defenses to key in on his passes to cutters when he has the ball.
Green does not see his scoring passivity as a problem unless it is late in the game.
“Throughout the flow of the game, I’ll turn shots down and I don’t really care,” Green said on New Year’s Eve.
The same advanced stats that love Green as a defender also paint him as one of the league’s worst offensive players.
Box plus-minus, which aims to capture a player’s overall impact and has zero as a true neutral, has Green as a -2.8 on offense, which brings him to -1.0 overall despite his positive defensive contributions. He also recently went eight consecutive games with a negative plus-minus, although he has been in the positive for three of the last four games.
But regardless of what any catch-all stat says – or how many or few games he finishes because of ejections or blowups at coaches – Green will likely remain a fixture in the starting lineup.
Because at his best, he can still bring that one-of-a-kind chemistry with Steph Curry as a passer while also defending with versatility no other player can match.
Even if it can hurt – himself and the team – more than it used to.